Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Today in the Sobel Timeline: March 12

On March 12, 1933, Governor-GeneralDouglas Watson of the Confederation of North America announced that he would be embarking on a tour of Europe "so as to better understand the peoples and leaders of these nations, which, in turn, will enable our country to more effectively play its proper role in international affairs." Watson's itinerary included visits to Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, and London, and would be the first time a sitting governor-general had ever left North American soil. Watson's announcement also represented the first deviation from isolationism by a North American leader since the defeat of John McDowell in 1888.